WHERE HE STANDS: 15th, 40 points out of 13th place. Lost one spot last week.

TALLADEGA RECORD: Seven top-10 finishes in 21 starts.

LOOKING AHEAD: Newman said, "This U.S. Army Racing team has really been on the short end of the stick at Talladega for the past few years. Despite our rotten luck, this team has not given up on succeeding at this track. If you think about the law of averages, sooner or later we're not only going to finish a race at Talladega, we're going to get a good finish -- maybe even a win."

LOOKING BACK: Newman struggled with the handling of his car all afternoon as he finished 21st at Dover. "Today just wasn't our day," said Newman. "We got a lap down early and we never could get that lap back. Then we battled with our car all day long. But the guys kept making changes and refused to quit on getting the car to where I could drive it."

ETC.: Newman and the team got some good news Tuesday when Quicken Loans announced they would be the primary sponsor on the 39 car for 18 races in 2013. The team has been trying to find new sponsorship ever since Army said it would not return next year.

27 PAUL MENARD, Chevrolet

Team: Richard Childress Racing

WHERE HE STANDS: 16th, 56 points out of 13th place.

TALLADEGA RECORD: Only one top-10 finish in 12 starts.

LOOKING AHEAD: Menard said, "When you go to Talladega, it is really anyone's game. I think the guys at ECR (engines) are building even better motors for us. The cars have been good, too. It's just a matter of dodging the wrecks and finishing the races."

LOOKING BACK: Menard struggled with an extremely tight race car all afternoon as he finished 22nd at Dover. "This was definitely not the finish we had hoped for," said Menard. "We just couldn't catch a break today. Bad timing with cautions coming out while we were on pit road just put us further behind. We made good adjustments and the pit crew did a great job on pit road, but with the long green-flag runs, it is difficult to make up ground."

ETC.: Car owner Richard Childress is the first to admit that his teams haven't performed as well in 2012 as he expected. And that is why he is quick to say, "We know we've got a lot of work ahead of us. We've got to get our cars better, we've got to get our handling better, got to get to running better."

9 MARCOS AMBROSE, Ford

Team: Richard Petty Motorsports

WHERE HE STANDS: 17th, 72 points out of 13th place.

TALLADEGA RECORD: One top-10 finish in seven starts.

LOOKING AHEAD: Ambrose said, "Talladega is a really cool track to race on. It's got so much history associated with it. It's the biggest and fastest track we go to all season, and it's a race that's completely unpredictable. Anything can happen at these superspeedway races. We've just got to be in the right place at the right time and stay out of trouble."

LOOKING BACK: Ambrose finished 18th at Dover. "It was hard work today," said Ambrose. "We were behind the 8-ball to start with (as he battled a tight race car), and even though we improved throughout the day, it was difficult to make up the lost ground."

ETC.: Ambrose believes he is close to signing a contract extension with Richard Petty Motorsports. "We're all good," Ambrose said when he was asked about his contract negotiations with the team. He believes things will be wrapped up shortly after the team finalizes its new deal with Ford.

20 JOEY LOGANO, Toyota

Team: Joe Gibbs Racing

WHERE HE STANDS: 18th, 85 points out of 13th place.

TALLADEGA RECORD: Four top-10 finishes in seven races.

LOOKING AHEAD: Logano said, "Over the last couple of years, I've really felt like I've become a pretty good superspeedway and restrictor-plate driver. When I first started, I didn't think I was very good at restrictor-plate races. But the more I've done them, both in the Cup Series and in the Nationwide Series, I've got a knack for it. I've been able to win a couple of them in the Nationwide Series, and I feel like I've been pretty close in the Cup Series."